Abstract

Objective

The objective of the present study is to describe the extension of the National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) pediatric parent proxy-report item banks for parents of children ages 5–7 years, and to investigate differential item functioning (DIF) between the data obtained from parents of 5–7-year-old children with the data obtained from parents of 8–17 year-old children in the original construction of the scales.

Methods

Item response theory (IRT) analyses of DIF were conducted comparing data from the 5–7 age group with data from the established scales for ages 8–17 across 5 generic health domains (physical functioning, pain, fatigue, emotional health, and social health) and asthma.

Results

IRT DIF analyses revealed that the majority of the items functioned similarly with responses from parents of younger and older children. A small number of items were removed from the item bank for younger children, and a few items that exhibited statistical DIF were retained in the pools with the caveat that they should not be used in studies that involve comparisons of younger children with older children.

Conclusions

The study confirms that most of the items in the PROMIS parent proxy-report item banks can be used with parents of children ages 5–7. It is anticipated that these new scales will have application for younger pediatric populations when pediatric self-report is not feasible.

Varni, J. W., Limbers, C. A., & Burwinkle, T. M. (2007). How young can children reliably and validly self-report their health-related quality of life? An analysis of 8,591 children across age subgroups with the PedsQL™ 4.0 generic core scales.
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes,5(1), 1–13.
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Quality of Life Research
An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation - Official Journal of the International Society of Quality of Life Research
Uitgave 1/2014
Print ISSN: 0962-9343
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-2649